Crank The Shield: Trail Build

An intrepid band of about a dozen hearty volunteers joined Chico Racing and dove deep into the heart of the Haliburton Forest this weekend to build a signature trail for Crank The Shield. One day of flagging and two days of building yielded nearly 2 km of challenging yet dynamic trail that's sure to live up to its name: Crank The Shield (apt, no?).

To anyone planning a trip up to Haliburton Forest: the trailhead is up near the intersection of the Normac and Red trails. It's opened and signed so don't be shy. It rides great and needs a few more tires across it!

To all you eager CTS racers: get ready, this one's a doozy!

Please enjoy seeing this terrible collection of me - something wonderful is about to happy.

It was a curious thing building that trail. I was overwhelmed with this feeling of "I can hardly wait until people get to ride this; they're gonna love it!" A lot of time was spent making features with multiple lines. I can hardly wait to race it myself!

Please enjoy seeing this terrible collection of me - something wonderful is about to happy.

All the pics are from one new Chico trail in the Haliburton Forest. The new build rides really well, but I am not sure about your 10 year old riding ability. You could give it a try since there are tons of easier trails, private lakes to swim and fish, wolf centre, tree top trek and the largest campground in North America.

I will post some pics another day of the built going on right now up there. Really great stuff, can't wait to go back up there to ride more of it.

There is a new trail being built that spurs off Crank the Shield about three quarters of the way through.. Two Haliburton Forest employees were busy chainsawing and raking the new line. Again the layout is superb, with a rideable grade up hill without even being raked yet. The trail curves around the bottom of a nice little water fall giving a nice view and break spot., while crossing the water at tame flat spot …great layout…nice flow. The Haliburton guys said the trail flagging continues over to a hilly area…looking forward to a return visit. This is the type of trail that was missing from Haliburtons 300 kilometers of access roads and trails.

Terribly sorry for reviving this old thing, but a few buddies and I are booked at Haliburton Forest for a couple of nights in August and many reviews circa 2007 for Haliburton Forest rate it low for mountain biking. I am guessing the newer Chico trails raise the excitement bar for single-track enthusiasts, and they are accessible from the camping area?

Haliburton is a tough, rugged place to ride. Except for the new bits built by Chico, expect old-school all-day rides with plenty of rocks, roots and water crossings.

As I said in my (old) original post, Crank the Shield can be accessed across from the exit to the Normac but the second half has been logged since the original build. The new section that Phat mentioned (I think they named it North West Passage(?)) is a lot of fun - until you get to the LONG hike-a-bike.

Please enjoy seeing this terrible collection of me - something wonderful is about to happy.

The Chico trails are only a few kms in total so you can't make a day of just that. I think you can get a trail map at the main office and design your day based on it. Haliburton is littered with "To Base" signs that will steer you back to the cabins no matter where you pop out. On the whole, I wouldn't go to Haliburton specifically to ride but if I was going, I'd definitely bring my bike, if you catch my drift

I've never ridden in Algonquin so I can't help there. They most remind me of the jeep/hunting trails I used to ride growing up in Sudbury.

Please enjoy seeing this terrible collection of me - something wonderful is about to happy.

If you contacted Dan, info@substanceprojects.com , he'd probably be willing to hook you up with last year's Haliburton Marathon technical guide.

Normac's a classic. Ben's and Poacher's are both awesome when you aren't completely exhausted. The CTS trail is worthwhile (though I didn't love the logging re-routes). I personally hated the new North Shore trail (not a mountain bike trail, in my opinion, but then I'm a singlespeeder, so take that with a grain of salt).

If you contacted Dan, info@substanceprojects.com , he'd probably be willing to hook you up with last year's Haliburton Marathon technical guide.

Normac's a classic. Ben's and Poacher's are both awesome when you aren't completely exhausted. The CTS trail is worthwhile (though I didn't love the logging re-routes). I personally hated the new North Shore trail (not a mountain bike trail, in my opinion, but then I'm a singlespeeder, so take that with a grain of salt).

Follow the green line going clockwise. Try not to die.
In fact just don't do it. Stick to the gravel roads and enjoy the scenery, stop for a picnic maybe do some fishing. Avoid every trail that is not marked 'easy' on the trail map. And for gods sake, be careful man.

Try not to die.
In fact just don't do it. Stick to the gravel roads and enjoy the scenery, stop for a picnic maybe do some fishing. Avoid every trail that is not marked 'easy' on the trail map. And for gods sake, be careful man.

Pshaw. You just say that because we both had near-death experiences in last year's Marathon. That's no reason to deter others!

UPDATE:
Got back from our weekend and had a blast! Well, the first day was a bit tame b/c we didn't really know the trails and the group was too splintered; half found Normac too challenging and the other half wanted Normac at a minimum. Personally I wasn't thrilled with the amount of dirt road riding to get from one trail to the next or that lame 'moderate' trail by Black Creek by the swamp that was basically unridable. It was tough keeping up with a racer on his 22lb 29er hardtail on my 6x6 on the road - all I had to show for it was burnt quads.

Second day we separated into two groups and we had a better feel for what was what. Excellent second day, which made up for the first day.